


dearly departed (we are gathered here today)

by elisela



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, I swear, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, buck is such a good dad, he loves christopher so much, no one dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elisela/pseuds/elisela
Summary: The room is still dark when the vibration under his pillow jerks him awake; for a moment he thinks he’s back at the station, still on shift, but there’s no alarm blaring and his hip doesn’t have the dull ache it always does whenever he’s been in the bunks for awhile. Still—his phone ringing before dawn is never good, so he gropes under the pillow for it and peers blearily at the screenEddie.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 51
Kudos: 739





	dearly departed (we are gathered here today)

**Author's Note:**

> So I got this prompt on tumblr that asked me to write Eddie's funeral. 
> 
> .... I promise no one is dead.

The room is still dark when the vibration under his pillow jerks him awake; for a moment he thinks he’s back at the station, still on shift, but there’s no alarm blaring and his hip doesn’t have the dull ache it always does whenever he’s been in the bunks for awhile. Still—his phone ringing before dawn is never good, so he gropes under the pillow for it and peers blearily at the screen.

_Eddie._

He’s already pushing himself out of bed by the time he answers; Eddie _loves_ his sleep, there’s no way he’d be calling on a day off unless something was going on. He doesn’t bother with a greeting, just jabs the green answer button and starts with “S’alright, Eds?”

Christopher’s tearful voice stops him cold. “Bucky? Eddie’s dead.”

The words slam into his chest, send ice running through his veins and he looks around the room wildly for what he needs. Clothes— _shit_ , why does he sleep naked, he’s a first responder, he ought to know better—there are sweatpants over the railing that he stumbles into and _dead_ repeats in his head and he tells Chris just to hold on, he’ll be right there, just—

It hits him halfway down the stairs that behind Chris’ tears is someone laughing, someone that sounds suspiciously like his boyfriend, and that Chris had said _Eddie_ , not _Dad_.

He’s talking about his fucking goldfish. 

He sits down hard, takes a deep breath in. “Chris, baby,” he says, “I’m so sorry. I’ll be right there. Can you give your Dad the phone?”

Eddie’s laughter is right in his ear a moment later, and Buck scowls. “I’m _sorry_ ,” Eddie gasps out, “Buck—Chris; I’m _sorry,_ it’s not funny, I know—” he doesn’t sound like he knows, Buck thinks darkly—”I’m such a bad parent, but—”

“You are a fucking asshole,” Buck says, without much heat, now that his heartbeat is returning to normal. “And not a great boyfriend, either.”

“Language,” Eddie says, which apparently sets him off again. “Chris doesn’t need to hear that.”

“Pretty sure Chris already knows that his Dad’s a dick,” Buck says. He stands back up, turns around and heads for the bathroom. “Tell him I’ll be over in half an hour and we can go out to breakfast. Plan the funeral.”

“Sounds good,” Eddie says. “I could really go for an omelet right now.”

“Make it yourself,” Buck snaps. “You’re not invited.”

“He was just floating there,” Chris says miserably, poking at the whipped cream on top of his hot chocolate. Not even the sprinkles had cheered him, which clued Buck into how deep his mourning was—Chris lived for sprinkles. “I couldn’t even save him.”

“It was just his time, buddy,” Buck says, wrapping his arm around Chris’ shoulder and pulling him close to drop a kiss on the top of his head. “But he knows you loved him.”

“Can we really give him a funeral? Dad said we had to _flush_ him.”

“Of course we can,” Buck says. “Your Dad is an idiot.” Eddie was Chris’ first pet; of course he doesn’t just want him flushed down the toilet. 

“Yeah, an idiot,” Chris says rebelliously, and Buck winks at him when he looks up questioningly, checking that he won’t get in trouble. “Do you think everyone will come? Like Denny and Harry?”

“Of course they will,” Buck says, cringing as he does. He’s going to have to make a few phone calls, trade a few favors, but he’s pretty sure he can pull it off. It’s not like it has to be big, just—

“Abuela says you need a priest,” Chris says. “And when my Mom died, it was in a big church and everyone went to Abuela’s the night before. She cooked a lot of food. Do you think she’ll cook for Eddie?”

Buck bites his tongue and smiles down at Chris. “I’m not sure, but we can definitely ask her.”

Their food comes and they dig in; over eggs benedict and waffles and a shared plate of hash browns they make plans, figure out who to invite, where to get a tiny coffin, and all the other small details. Chris’ only real concern is that Eddie won’t take it seriously, which Buck privately agrees with while outwardly assuring Chris that he has his Dad handled. 

They’re just about ready to leave when the waitress checks on them a final time before bringing their bill, and when she asks if they need anything else, Buck smiles and says yes.

When they get back home, Chris makes a beeline for his Dad, take-out bag swinging off one arm. “We brought you breakfast,” he says, smiling up at Eddie, and Buck takes a minute to appreciate the look on Eddie’s face when he opens up the container.

“Thanks,” Eddie says, smiling. The second Chris’ back is turned, he shoots Buck a look. “You know how much I love egg-white omelets.”

“Buck says they’re healthy,” Chris says seriously, digging out another container. “And we got you fruit instead of toast!”

“Wow,” Eddie says dryly. “You shouldn’t have.”

“Oh, but we did.” Buck grins, sliding an arm around Eddie’s waist. He’d been too irritated to greet him properly earlier, but the look on Eddie’s face as he surveys the omelet he’s going to be guilted into eating is helping soothe the feeling. “Eat up, dear.”

It had taken the better part of Buck’s week to get a funeral together, but despite a healthy amount of teasing from everyone invited, they’re all standing around the Diaz backyard in nice clothing, listening to Chris talk about what a good life Eddie had led. 

“You’re a good man,” Eddie whispers from his spot by Buck’s side, slipping an arm around Buck’s waist. “A bit of an overachiever, and definitely wrapped around Christopher’s finger, but a good man.”

“It was important to him,” Buck whispers back. Okay, so maybe it could have been just the three of them, but it’s not like it was a hardship to get a bundle of flowers from the farmer’s market and trade an afternoon of home repair for Abuela’s chicken en mole and elote. And Bobby had only laughed _a little_ when Buck had sent him the website to get ordained (even Buck knew it was unreasonable to call a priest for a goldfish funeral, but Chris deserved _something_ and that was as close as he could get)—but Maddie, his sweet sister, had simply smiled and promised to write the best eulogy possible for Eddie. 

Eddie squeezes him closer and Buck reaches out a hand when Chris walks back up to them, pulling him in between them. Bobby’s back up front, reading the closing prayer, and Buck watches as Eddie wipes a tear from Christopher’s face, so tenderly that no one would be able to tell he thought this whole thing was ridiculous. 

And the thing is—Buck knows it’s overkill. He knows that investing untold hours of work on a funeral for a goldfish was, at best, silly. He knows he could have comforted Chris and gone along with Eddie’s plan of ordering a pizza and everything would have been fine in the end, but—

Chris leans his face against their clasped hands and says, “I love you, Bucky,” and it’s all worth it, every single bit.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll turn all your sad prompts into something happy or ridiculous. Come [prompt](https://hearteyesforbuck.tumblr.com/ask) or screech with me at [hearteyesforbuck](https://hearteyesforbuck.tumblr.com/)!


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